Monday
18th Nov 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid, President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih, and Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Sudheer.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the government is aiming to reduce the number of foreign workers employed in local jobs.
During the opening ceremony of the Job Centre in Alifushi, Raa Atoll, the president said that the government will establish job centres across the Maldives to achieve its aim. He highlighted that the National Job Centre opened in Male' in April operates on a national scale, and the Alifushi Job Centre is the first job centre established in the atoll.
Job centres connect workers to employers, said the President. However, he acknowledged that there are job seekers unable to secure jobs, and employers unable to hire as they are unable to find a worker with the specific set of skills that they require. He claimed that job seekers must be trained in order to fill the gap.
He added that Technical, Vocational, Education, and Training (TVET) centres will be established in the atolls, and that the TVET centre in Alifushi is the first of its kind.
According to President Solih, the issue of bringing expatriate workers for local jobs has been solved. While 8,000 work permits have been issued, 6,000 expatriate workers arrived in the Maldives this year. This is a great number less than previous years.
While President Solih has spoken on hiring Maldivians for local jobs, many note that the current government has appointed foreign nationals to roles formerly filled by locals in the state-owned enterprises.